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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices in Counselor Advocacy: Writing Letters and
E-mails That Get ResultsStephanie T. Burns
CSI Professional Advocacy Committee
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Contents
• Rationale: Why write letters?• Best Practices in Advocacy Letter Writing
◦ Overview, addressing legislators, telling yourstory, being concrete, being informative, being timely, calls-to-action and checklists
◦ When to write, who to write, how to write… and much more!
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Rationale: Why Take the Time to Write
• Often the best way to get results is to write a letter that will be mailed◦ Letters provide a written record◦ Letters can be shared between multiple staff
members ◦ Letters communicate serious intent◦ Personal or organizational letterhead conveys
professionalism
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices in Advocacy Letter Writing: Overview
• Write approximately a one single-spaced page letter or a two page double spaced letter.
• Use personal or business stationery. • Include your name, return address, and
telephone number including the area code on the letter. This helps to identify you as a constituent.
• Hand write letters if they are exceptionally legible; otherwise, type.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Addressing the Letter
• Name the bill's sponsoring Member(s). ◦ Visit your state legislative page to find the
bill’s sponsoring member(s) http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=17173
◦ For bills introduced into Congress visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/bills_res.html
• Spell the legislator’s name correctly. • Use appropriate title (Representative, Senator).
Elected officials are addressed as "Honorable.”
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Finding Legislator(s)
• US House◦ https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
• US Senate◦ http://www.senate.gov/
• State Legislators◦ http://www.votesmart.org/
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices: Addressing Legislators
• Double check the legislator’s address.• Cover only one subject per letter. Send a
separate letter for each concern as different assistants in the office may work with different issues.
• Clearly identify bills to avoid confusion. At the top write, “Re: (name and number of bill).”
• If you know the legislator or staff aide personally, mention it at the start of your letter.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices: Telling Your Story
• State that you are an individual who is a constituent to the legislator. Say why you are writing and list your credentials.
• Tell your story about how this legislation touches your professional life or your clients’ lives in yourown words. Stories make a tremendous impact on legislators, but be careful to maintain client confidentiality! Seek supervision.
• A thoughtful and well-constructed story can have more impact than a thousand letters or calls.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices: Being Concrete
• Use concrete examples about how the topic affects you and others.
• Few take the time to craft thoughtful, personal letters that demonstrate how the legislation impacts the individual on a daily basis.
• Personal stories will almost guarantee that you will capture their interest and attention.
• Sends a signal that you really care about the issue.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices: Being Informative, Being Timely• Avoid jargon and acronyms in your writing. For
example, CSI can stand for many organizations.• Remember that your letter will be read by
someone of intelligence, but that person is less informed than you about the aspects of this particular issue.
• Make your letters timely: Legislators appreciate having your views and information while the issue is before them.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Best Practices:Calls-to-Action and Checklists
• Ask the legislator to do something specific. “Please vote for/against [number of the bill]” or “I recommend the following changes to…”
• Indicate why it is important to you that they take action regarding your problem or request.
• Indicate your thanks and restate your most important message.
• Run spell/grammar check before sending the letter.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Avoid WhenAdvocacy Letter Writing
• Demanding the legislator’s cooperation. • Sending any kind of a form letter. • Threatening defeat at the next election. • Adopting a politically partisan tone in your letter. • Chronic letter writing. Choose issues wisely.• Using the legislator’s first name unless you know
them personally. • Getting discouraged!
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Write Only Your Legislator(s)• What can I do when an issue of importance
rests in the hands of an elected official who doesn’t represent me?
• Ask your own elected official(s) to advocate for your position with their contemporaries by writing a letter, having a meeting, or making a phone call on your behalf.
• Working with your own elected official is a more effective use of your time than mailing or calling someone else’s legislator. Only your legislator can and will work with you.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
4 Letter Writing Stances: Choose Only One!
• Before writing your letter, know your position to the issue. You could be writing as a…◦ Constituent - A voter telling your legislator
your views on an issue. No direct connection/impact to the issue. Simply have an opinion.
◦ Stakeholder – Someone directly affected by a policy decision. (Counselor or client who is impacted by the outcome of a bill.)
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
4 Letter Writing Stances
• Or you could be writing as a… ◦ Expert - Someone who has
particular/specialized knowledge about the issue under debate. (Have published/researched in a specific area.)
◦ Representative - Writing not your personal views, but stating the collective views of the group you represent. • For example, the CSI President writing legislators
on behalf of CSI members.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Putting it all together…
• Introduce Yourself◦ State that you are a constituent◦ State that you are a licensed professional who
is directly impacted by this legislation.◦ Convince the legislator of your experience
and expertise in this area. • Call to Action: Ask them to take a specific action!
Support legislation, make a public statement, change aspects of a bill, etc.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
How to begin…• Be Specific: Personal experiences are effective
and often moving. Share your story, but be mindful of the client’s confidentiality!!!
• Be Polite: No one appreciates being spoken down to or insulted. You are trying to garner their support, so be nice.
• Clearly State Your Request: Plainly tell your legislator that you want them to support (or oppose) a certain bill.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
The opposition…
• Legislator likely to hear from the opposing view. • Don’t disparage opponents. Refrain from
labeling those who disagree as “stupid.” • Fairly presenting the other view and explaining
why you have the better solution builds trust.• If honest about the opposing view up front, the
more likely they will believe you in the long run. • Implies that you have nothing to fear from the
legislator knowing the other side of the story.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Connect the Letter to the Legislator
• Help them to understand how the issues you care about connect to real people in their district.
• Capture their attention by learning what issues they care most about and tying their interests to your issue. • If they care about health care, how does your
issue connect to health care concerns? • Read their biography on their website to find
their interests
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
3 parts to a great letter…1 & 2
1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them.◦ Introduce yourself, describe your credentials.◦ Explain your support for or against a bill.
2. Tell them.◦ Discuss the issue and explain your stand.◦ Be specific and describe how this impacts you
and your clients. Relate your message to your personal experiences and their interests.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
3 parts to a great letter… 3
• Tell them what you told them◦ Request (not demand) a specific action.◦ Thank the legislator for considering your
views.◦ Offer assistance if the legislator has
questions.◦ Ask questions such as, “Can I count on you to
vote yes on HB 53?” This requires a response back to you.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Using CSI Chapter Letterhead for Your Letter
• Remember that:◦ CSI is the sole official acronym of Chi Sigma
Iota, International.• Be sure your letterhead clearly states your chapter
name so no one can confuse the chapter with Chi Sigma Iota, International
• The Chapter Faculty Advisor must approve all advocacy letters that are sent using CSI letterhead.
• It is good practice to copy CSI International on advocacy letters.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
What about e-mail?
• Most (but not all) legislative offices pay attention to e-mails
• Check with the legislator’s office first to confirm that their use of e-mails equals that of letters sent through the mail
• Follow the same “rules” of content and relevance discussed for best practices in advocacy letter writing mentioned earlier
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Follow-up 2-3 weeks after your initial request!
• This is 2-way communication. You must follow-up!
• Write back to their letter with another brief letter.◦ If they agreed, send a letter of thanks.◦ If they disagreed, reply with a brief letter
quoting the section(s) of their letter with which you take issue, restate your position, and supply additional evidence to support your view.
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Follow-up 2-3 weeks after your initial request!
• Some legislators ignore initial requests. Asking a second time lets them know that are serious.
• Send a thank you note when they do something that you like!
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example State Legislative Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example State Legislative Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example State Legislative Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example House of Representatives Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example House of Representatives Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Example House of Representatives Letter
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
Federal Counseling Legislation Information
• On the ACA website
◦ http://www.counseling.org/PublicPolicy/• General information about federal
counseling legislation◦ http://capwiz.com/counseling/home/
• Sign up for Government Relations Listserv• Call to action on current federal legislation
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© 2013, Chi Sigma Iota, All Rights Reserved
References: Selected Web Sites• http://www.advocacyguru.com/
• http://www.citizenredress.com/
• http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm
• http://congress.org/advocacy-101/
• http://www.cra.org/govaffairs/advocacy/writecong.html
• http://fcnl.org/resources/toolkit/write_congress/
• http://consumerist.com/2008/09/23/how-to-write-to-congress/
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